JetBrains Delivers New PHP Tool Release

JetBrains has tweaked its PHP development platform, adding a host of new features to PhpStorm to simplify things for developers.

JetBrains has announced a new version of its integrated development
environment (IDE) for the PHP programming
language PhpStorm 2.0.
JetBrains, the maker of the popular IntelliJ IDEA Java IDE,
has enhanced its existing PHP platform and extended its support for dynamic
languages. The company also makes PyCharm, an IDE
for Python development, and RubyMine, a Ruby and Rails IDE.

While the initial edition of PhpStorm featured capabilities such as
automated refactoring, deep code analysis, on-the-fly error checking and
quick-fixes, based on feedback from developers PhpStorm 2.0 focuses on
delivering more intelligence, better code quality assurance and support for the
latest PHP trends.

"We added PHP namespaces and closures support, which are actively used
in today's PHP development, and greatly improved code-analysis
capabilities," said Alexey Gopachenko, team lead for the product at
JetBrains, in a statement. "In addition, this major release makes PHP
debugging just 'work out of the box,' requiring no configuration at all."
In a press release on the new version of its tool, JetBrains officials said
the key changes in PhpStorm 2.0 include Complete PHP 5.3 support, including
namespaces and closures; Zend Debugger support and zero-configuration debugging
in all browsers; and command-line tool support, including completion for
Zend_Tool and Symfony. In addition, the new release features full-fledged editors
for SQL queries with editable query results, added Mercurial support, and HTML5
and EcmaScript 5 to boot.
Developers interested in trying PhpStorm can download a free 30-day
evaluation that works out of the box at http://www.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/?PS2PR.
Separate personal and commercial licenses are available, both affordably
priced, especially for individual developers. Each license includes free
PhpStorm updates for one year after the purchase date, covering even major new
releases. See http://www.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/buy/?PS2PR.

Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.